Friday, October 31, 2014

The latest elections in Tunisia have firmly set the country
on a solid path towards full democratic transition. In a region rife with
ideological and doctrinal conflicts, and amidst the failure of the Arab
uprisings to bring about meaningful regime change, Tunisia stands as the only
ray of hope. The electoral defeat of the Islamists of Ennahda and subsequent
concession to Nida' Tounes (Tunisia's Call) party show how far the democratic values have been entrenched in Tunisia’s
political culture. Contrary to confrontationist views on political Islam, these
elections are not an indictment against radical anachronistic Islamists, nor
have the Islamists engaged in electoral dissimulation, or attempted an
abrogation of the electoral processes.

Nida' Tounes's victory is not a blow to political Islam as much as it is a momentous
event highlighting the success of the democratic political process in Tunisia. The
results of the elections and the vast plurality of the votes that the
Bourguibist-secular Nida' Tounes accumulated on Sunday are a reaction to societal
disappointment with Ennahda’s governance and inability to tackle the many
socio-economic problems and security challenges that Tunisia is facing prior to
their forced retreat from power a year ago.

Nida' Tounes faces a monumental task to deliver now that they are
set to rule over a coalition government. Concerns over the membership of Nida' Tounes,
however, could overshadow their mandate over the next few years. Nida' Tounes
is made up of former regime functionaries and politicians. The party has worked
diligently to distance itself from ties to deposed president Zine al-‘Abidine
Ben 'Ali and his former party of power the RCD (French Acronym for Democratic
Constitutional Rally). For now the plurality of Tunisians have accepted the
narrative of Nida'. But as the new government tackles some of the pressing
socio-economic issues of the country, and in the case of under-performance orpotential setbacks, old skeletons may
resurface again tying the party to the tejma’a of former RCD-ist members. Nida' Tounes’s
octogenarian leader Beji Caid Essebsi’s decision to seek the election in the
presidential elections set for November 23rd is also causing much
consternation from Tunisians concerned about a total Nida' dominance of both
the executive and legislative branches of government.

In the spirit of the democratic and civil constitution, however,
political actors from Nida' Tounes and Ennahda expressed their renewed
commitment to a peaceful political transition. Beji Caid Essebsi, himself a relic from both
Bourguiba and Ben Ali regimes, has so far channeled the right message in
victory stating that Nida' will not govern alone, even if it means a coalition with Ennahda. That is unlikely, however, for Nida' will probably court its own
family of leftist parties to join in the new government. Leftist secular UPL
(French acronym for Free Patriotic Union) of Slim Riahi, sometimes dubbed as
the Tunisian Berlusconi, is already setting conditions to join Nida' in the new
government with demands for meaningful cabinet portfolios.

Ennahda Islamist party is reeling after its failure to capitalize on
the popularity and momentum it garnered after the fall of Ben 'Ali's dictatorship in the initial stages of the Arab
spring. The party suffered from lack of experience in governance, false perceptions of association to
radical Islamists, and marred by two high profile political assassinations of
leading secular politicians under its watch. These fed into the general sense
of insecurity Tunisians have felt under Ennahda, especially as the rest of the
Middle East and North Africa is rife with radical Islamist extremism. Ennahda
has also paid the price for its inability to deal effectively with the economic
challenges, and general political reforms that Tunisia still needs especially
in the area of the judiciary. Its leader Ghannouchi perhaps spent more time
making the case for the compatibility between democracy and political Islam
abroad than at home.

Tunisia is steadily inching towards democratic consolidation
where fair, free, and competitive elections, rule of law, and respect for civil
liberties become the “only game in town.” Tunisians are undergoing vast
behavioral and attitudinal changes. While Tunisians’ confidence in democracy is
waning as the latest pre-elections Pew survey shows, belief in further
political change through democratic means is still strong. Democratic
consolidation, however, can only be further advanced if government forces in
Tunisia continue to resort to constitutional means to resolve conflicts, and
build areas of compromise within the boundaries of state institutions.

Tuesday, October 21, 2014

Human Rights Watch has released a recent report on the status of human rights in the Polisario-run comps in Tindouf, Algeria. In the report, the human rights vanguard organization lists a series of human rights violations by the Polisario Front in the areas of judicial rights, freedom of speech, and some cases of slavery-like practices:

"While the Polisario tolerates some speech and demonstrations critical of its governance, Human Rights Watch heard credible allegations that authorities harassed some critics for speaking out. In addition, the rights of some civilians tried before military courts have been abridged, and slavery-like practices continue to exist in isolated cases."

The Human Rights organization issued some recommendations both to the Polisario Front and the Algerian government:

"The Polisario Front should end military court jurisdiction over civilians and redouble its efforts to eradicate all vestiges of slavery, Human Rights Watch said. The Front should ensure that camp residents are free to challenge its policies and leadership peacefully and to advocate options other than independence for Western Sahara. Algeria should publicly acknowledge its legal responsibility for ensuring respect for the rights of everyone on its territory, including residents of the Polisario-run refugee camps."

The 94-page report, "Off the Radar: Human Rights in the Tindouf Refugee Camps,"comes out amidst mounting pressure, especially on Morocco for human rights violations in the Western Sahara. In a previous article, I was, and remain, critical of the narrow approach to the conflict solely in terms of the authoritarian nature of the Moroccan state and its human rights violations in the territory. Then and now, the issue is one of self-determination and an identity conflict that should take in to consideration the historical claims to the territory by Morocco.In the absence of UN human rights monitoring, the report by Human Rights Watch is one of the few reliable source the internal community has about the status of human rights in the disputed territory. It provides a much needed look at the conditions of the Sahrawis living under Polisario rule, and offers some balance to the one-sided focus on Moroccan autocratic violations.